Do what I say, don't do as I do...
Only 24 hours after having won an Oscar, Al Gore sees himsekf back at the eye of a storm (some glory moments don' tlast long)... Apparently his household consumption is 20 times the national US average...
On Sunday night, in front of the cream of the movie industry and the world's cameras, he stood alongside fellow eco-warrior Leonardo DiCaprio and proclaimed the ceremony the first in the Academy Awards' history to be run on "environmentally intelligent" lines. "And you know what?" he told the adoring crowd. "It's not as hard as you might think. We have a long way to go but all of us can do something in our own lives to make a difference." Something he had already told us in the documentary...
All the fuss because a little-known group based in his home state, the Tennessee Centre for Policy Research, had the (brilliant) idea of looking up Mr Gore's energy bills for his large home in the Belle Meade area of Nashville to see whether he practised what he preached... The figures, released to the group (under federal freedom of information rules), were amazing... last year the Gore household consumed 221,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity - more than 20 times the national annual average! And the consumption of energy rose between 2005 and 2006. And in addition, he spent on average US$1,080 a month on natural gas. Combined, his electricity and gas bills reached almost US$30,000 a year. The president of the group, Drew Johnson, told the newspaper Guardian that he had no objection to someone spending US$30,000 on energy to light and heat a multimillion dollar house. "I only have a problem with that person telling us what light-bulbs to buy and that we should get a new low-energy refrigerator. That's hypocrisy, and I'm proud to have exposed it," he said.
All the fuss because a little-known group based in his home state, the Tennessee Centre for Policy Research, had the (brilliant) idea of looking up Mr Gore's energy bills for his large home in the Belle Meade area of Nashville to see whether he practised what he preached... The figures, released to the group (under federal freedom of information rules), were amazing... last year the Gore household consumed 221,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity - more than 20 times the national annual average! And the consumption of energy rose between 2005 and 2006. And in addition, he spent on average US$1,080 a month on natural gas. Combined, his electricity and gas bills reached almost US$30,000 a year. The president of the group, Drew Johnson, told the newspaper Guardian that he had no objection to someone spending US$30,000 on energy to light and heat a multimillion dollar house. "I only have a problem with that person telling us what light-bulbs to buy and that we should get a new low-energy refrigerator. That's hypocrisy, and I'm proud to have exposed it," he said.
By yesterday the news of Mr Gore's energy bills was flying around the internet...
of course, Al Gore's advisers promptly replied that "you can attack the messenger but the message remains the same" and that the energy bills fail to tell the whole picture. That all the energy used for the Nashville home comes from a green power that draws its energy from solar, wind-powered and methane gas supplies, among other sources. And that the Gores are installing solar panels on the roof of their home and making efforts to reduce their energy needs. Besides, Mr Gore would have adopted a "carbon neutral" life whereby any emissions for which he was personally responsible were offset by buying green credits such as parcels of forests. The important issue, they claim, is that Al Gore has devoted 30 years of his life to educating people about global warming. Mr Gore, or the 'Goracle' as he is now known, seems to have been keeping out of the controversy. He is enjoying is high moment after the Oscars... and it seems he is planning a global round of Live Earth concerts for the summer. According to rumours he may even try a late run for the 2008 election.
In any case, this issue reminds us that in politics one should not judge a book by its cover, even if it's green... And the truth is, there is no truth at all... all is relative... in particular for politicians...
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